Ken Starr keynotes Washington County GOP dinner

Chad Plauche-Adkins

Special to The New and Sentinel

cadkins@mariettatimes.com

Approximately 300 people gathered on Tuesday at the Marietta Shrine Club to hear Ken Starr speak. (Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins)

MARIETTA – Former Independent Counsel for the Whitewater Investigation Ken Starr spoke about the lack of merit an impeachment of President Trump would have on Tuesday at the Washington County Republicans’ annual Lincoln Dinner.

The 300 attendees of the dinner were treated not only to a speech from Starr, but also had the opportunity to get a signed copy of his latest book, “Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation.” As Starr was finishing up the book in 2017, he said he did take notice of one aspect of the Mueller investigation which was freshly underway at the time.

“I was extremely mindful of one dimension of it… the potential saga of impeachment,” he said.

Starr said he agreed with Democrats who say the impeachment of President Trump shouldn’t happen. While writing his book with Mueller’s investigation happening, Starr said he reflected more intently on the impeachment process he went through in the 1990s and said the main lesson he learned from it is still true today.

“Don’t go there,” he said.

Ken Starr speaks to the Washington County Republicans on Tuesday during their annual Lincoln Dinner. (Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins)

Starr said he faced a split Congress just like an attempt at impeachment would face today, and doesn’t see the impeachment receiving the 67 votes necessary in the Republican controlled Senate.

“When you know there’s no support in a bi-partisan way…it’s pointless,” he said.

During his speech, Starr said he felt the president had been as forthcoming as possible with the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Starr cited Trump’s allowance of White House Counsel Don McGahn to speak to Mueller’s team for 30 hours as a sign of the president’s transparency.

When asked if he felt Attorney General William Barr’s statements during a press conference hours before the release of the Mueller report that the president was transparent during the investigation were accurate, he sided with Barr’s assessment.

But when asked about Mueller’s report saying that the president answered 30 times that he didn’t remember to written questions and refused to sit down with Mueller for direct questioning, Starr conceded how people could think that Barr was misleading.

Ken Starr signs copies of his latest book on Tuesday at the 2019 Washington County Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner. (Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins)

“That’s a fair point,” he said.

Mike Webber, chairman of the Washington County Republican Party, said that Starr’s speech increased ticket sales by approximately a 100 from last year’s event. He said those extra funds raised this year will help to provide a conservative voice in all aspects of the government.

“These small gifts are truly valuable both locally and nationally,” he said.

During his closing statements, Starr brought up the feelings he believed Americans had when Bill Clinton was being impeached.

“No one can say to the American people that (lawlessness) is wanted or needed,” he said.